DETROIT November 22, 2004; Reuters reported that Ford Motor
Co. announced plans on Monday to notify about 740,000 owners of
2004 model-year Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers of a
potential transmission problem in the popular sport utility
vehicles.

Ford will be sending out letters asking customers to take
the SUVs to a dealership for repairs that will be done free of
charge, Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley said.

Ford decided to send out the notification following
complaints that the SUVs' transmissions fail to engage smoothly
or make a noise when shifting from park to reverse, Kinley
said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has
received a number of complaints from Ford customers about the
problem. No recall notice has been issued, but the problem with
the Explorer, which is America's best-selling SUV, could put a
dent in recent claims of improved quality at the second-largest
U.S. automaker.

"We are in the process of a service repair procedure,"
Kinley said, adding that Ford dealers were already repairing
some vehicles that have the problem.